Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Alsea's fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings video conference. My name is Gerardo Lozoya, Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Numbers, and today, our Chief Executive Officer, Armando Torrado, and our Chief Financial Officer, Federico Rodríguez, will be presenting the results. Before we continue, a friendly reminder that some of our comments today will contain forward-looking statements based on our current view of our business and that future results may differ materially from these statements. Today's call should be considered in conjunction with disclaimers in our earnings release and our most recent Bolsa Mexicana de Valores report . The company is not obligated to update or revise any such forward-looking statements. Please note that unless specified otherwise, the earnings numbers referred to are based on our Pre-IFRS 16 standards. I will now hand it over to Armando for his initial remarks. Please go ahead, Armando.
Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thank you, Gerardo, and welcome to Alsea's fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings video conference. I would first like to thank our team members for their continued dedication to Alsea, the hard work and commitment that have been key to our solid performance this quarter and through the year. Today, I will provide an overview of our quarterly and full year performance, covering our financial results, regional highlights, and key brand developments, and I will also highlight our progress on digital transformation, ESG initiatives, and expansion strategy. To begin with, here are the key highlights for the fourth quarter of 2024. In the fourth quarter, we reported an 11.1% year-over-year increase in total sales, reaching MXN 21.7 billion, or a 12% increase when excluding foreign exchange effects. Same-store sales grew 7.2%.
EBITDA increased by 13% in the fourth quarter, reaching MXN 3.6 billion, with a margin of 16.4%. It is relevant to notice the strength of our brands in different regions, which is in conjunction with the optimization of the portfolio, with the sale of 54 units of Burger King in Spain, strategic pricing, and cost control measures that were effectively to offset the minimum wage increases. We improved in both margin and financial strengths. We served almost 34 million digital orders in the quarter, amounting to MXN 7.3 billion, which accounted for 33.5% of our total sales. For the full year, digital sales also reached 33.5% of our total sales, slightly up from 33.4% in 2023, evidencing the success of our digital strategy and growing consumer performance. Regarding our brand performance in the four quarters, Starbucks Alsea same-store sales increased by 5.2%.
For Starbucks Mexico, same-store sales increased by 3.3%, mainly supported on the counter and delivery channels, with strong contributors from the morning day part. For Starbucks Europe, same-store sales declined 7.4% as we continue working toward recovering pre-COVID traffic. Performance was also impacted by reduced consumer traffic in key tourist areas, particularly in Valencia, which was affected by the recent flooding. Finally, in South America, same-store sales increased by 30.5%. Regarding Domino's Pizza Alsea, we posted a 4.8% increase in same-store sales. In Mexico, Domino's same-store sales increased by 5.1%, driven by effective commercial and operational strategies. In Spain, same-store sales increased 3.5%, reflecting successful commercial strategies such as Croissantísima, which has been well received by our customers. In Colombia, Domino's performed well, achieving a 10.5% growth in same-store sales, driven by high transaction volume. Passing to Burger King Alsea, same-store sales, excluding Argentina, decreased by 1.1%.
In Mexico, Burger King reported a same-store sales contraction of 1.1%. However, the continued rollout of digital kiosks and other digital strategies is expected to support future growth. In Chile, same-store sales were flat. Regarding the food service restaurant segment, we delivered a 3.9% growth in same-store sales. VIPS Mexico, who recently turned 60 years anniversary, had a strong 3.8% year-over-year growth in same-store sales, fueled by strong operational performance and expansion on delivery channel and successful seasonal promotions. In Mexico, Italianni's was the best performer, with a high single-digit growth in same-store sales, while the rest of the portfolio was in mid-single-digit range. In Spain, VIPS and Ginos reported solid same-store sales of 3.8% and 3.3%, respectively, despite the impact of the flooding in Valencia. Our global expansion strategies focused on capitalizing on the most profitable opportunities across our key markets.
During the fourth quarter, we opened 107 new stores, including 74 corporate units and 33 franchisees, especially targeting high-traffic areas. Alongside our expansion in high-potential regions, we are also remodeling existing locations to enhance customer experience and drive growth. Despite macroeconomic challenges, we successfully opened 275 stores in 2024, 205 corporate units, and 70 franchisees. Looking ahead to 2025, we remain focused on identifying high-potential areas to expand our footprint. Regarding our loyalty programs, our digital transformation continues to be full growth. By the end of the quarter, loyalty sales grew by 33.1%, reaching MXN 5.1 billion, accounting for 25.1 million orders and contributing to 26% of total sales. Additionally, by the end of the fourth quarter, Club VIPS in Spain has surpassed 2.8 million members, while Starbucks reached over 2.3 million active users across all Alsea regions. ESG and people.
We continue to advance in our ESG initiatives this year, demonstrating our commitment to sustainability and social responsibility. As we reflect on our 2024 achievements, I want to highlight the collaborative efforts across companies to shape our sustainability strategy. This work has been essential in establishing short, medium, and long-term goals focused on reducing emissions, enhancing packaging circularity, ensuring responsible sourcing, and certifying suppliers under sustainability criteria. Our commitment to the community and later development has been strengthened through these initiatives, ensuring that sustainability remains a core component of our operation and strategy. By integrating sustainability into everything we do, we are not only shaping a better future, but also building a strong foundation for long-term success. Additionally, Fundación Alsea has a record investment of more than MXN 90 million and serving more than 1.5 million meals in Mexico through 34 soup kitchens.
We continue to ensure food security for vulnerable communities and support human development through education and employability initiatives. Now, I would like to hand it over to Federico Rodríguez. Please, Federico.
Thank you, Armando. Good morning, everyone. The sales increased by 11.1% in the fourth quarter and 6.3% for the full year, driven by solid consumption, preference for the company's brands, and effective commercial strategies in Mexico and Spain. Excluding the FX, sales increased 12% for the quarter and 10.9% for the full year. For the fourth quarter, sales in Mexico were up 8.5% to MXN 11.6 billion. In Europe, sales increased by 14.5% to MXN 6.5 billion, while in Euro terms, sales increased by 0.8%. Finally, South America sales increased by 14.1% to MXN 3.5 billion. For comparable purposes and attending the accounting rules, the operation of the 54 units of Burger King in Spain, as well as the sale of these assets, has been included as a discontinued operation below EBITDA line.
The EBITDA increased by 13% in the fourth quarter and 8.5% for the full year, driven by solid consumption and the preference for the company's brands. Excluding FX, EBITDA increased 11.5% for the quarter and 11% for the full year. In Mexico, the adjusted EBITDA increased by a strong 14.7% to MXN 2.8 billion for the quarter. This growth was driven by lower material costs, increased sales, successful commercial and promotional campaigns, and effective expense and labor management. Additionally, the 3.8% growth in same-store sales continued to improve operating leverage. For the full year 2024, adjusted EBITDA increased 18.5% to MXN 10.5 billion, with a margin expansion of 180 basis points. In Europe, the adjusted EBITDA decreased by 2.1% to MXN 1 billion for the quarter and by 9.7% in euros, driven by a drop in same-store sales.
This decline was primarily due to macroeconomic pressures and the previously mentioned brand boycott. For the full year, adjusted EBITDA decreased 4.4% to MXN 3.3 billion, with a margin contraction of 150 basis points. In South America, adjusted EBITDA declined by 17% to MXN 488 million, driven by a reduction in the operating leverage and an increase in the cost of food and other inputs. For the full year, adjusted EBITDA decreased 21.5% to MXN 1.8 billion, with a margin contraction of 370 basis points. Net income for the fourth quarter decreased 45.3% year-over-year to MXN 575 million. This was mainly due to a negative non-cash effect from currency exchange translation, which increased the cost of our U.S. and euro-denominated debt in Mexican pesos terms by the end of the quarter. For the full year 2024, EPS was MXN 1.68, plus IFRS 16 EPS was MXN 0.94.
Going to the CapEx, for the full year, we amounted to MXN 6.5 billion pesos, slightly exceeding initial guidance. This was mainly due to the start of construction of the new distribution center in Guadalajara. This investment will strengthen our logistical capabilities and support future regional growth. We allocated 27% to maintenance CapEx, 58% to store openings and remodelings, and 16% to other strategic projects. Throughout the year, we prioritized prudent and responsible investment with a clear focus on profitability. Our pre-IFRS 16 gross debt increased by MXN 6.9 billion pesos year-over-year, reaching MXN 33 billion pesos by the end of 2024. This rise was due to the debt incurred to finance the minority shareholder acquisition in Europe, as well as due to the impact of a weaker Mexican peso on the foreign currency debt at quarter end.
At the end of 2024, 89% of the debt was long-term, with 65% denominated in Mexican pesos and 35% in euros. We remain committed to maintain a strong balance sheet and are confident in comfortably meeting all debt covenants and obligations thanks to our healthy capital structure. At the end of the year, we posted a cash position of MXN 6.5 billion. Turning to financial ratios, the total debt to Pre-IFRS 16 EBITDA ratio closed the year at 2.8 times, while the net debt to EBITDA ratio stood at 2.3 times. Before going to the Q&A session, I want to add some details to our other current liabilities line and cash flow. The other current liability lines include a pending EUR 40 million payment to minority shareholders of the European entity Red Guard in 2024.
This obligation was already paid a couple of days ago. Therefore, you won't see this effect going forward. Additionally, more than 60% of this account, the other current liability, is explained, as we have told in previous communications, of derivative instruments for hedging, recovering and variable compensation of the management and the store managers, etc., operating and supply provisions such as water, electricity, internet, etc., legal and labor reserves, among others. I also want to highlight the company's strong cash flow generation. Several times, we have explained the seasonality component of the business, the Christmas season being the relevant driver to generate a positive working capital in the last quarter, while we usually see the opposite during the first half of each year.
Despite some one-off impacts like the payment to abroad suppliers in Argentina and the change in payment conditions to perishable product suppliers in Europe in the first half of 2024, we delivered solid cash flow conversion before dividend payments. Before discussing the 2025 guidance, I want to highlight that excluding FX, we successfully achieved our revenue and EBITDA growth guidance with a 10.9% and 11% growth in 2024, respectively. Our 2025 guidance reflects the commitment to sustainable growth, operational efficiencies, and disciplined capital allocation. We expect a mid-single-digit same-store sales growth, a top-line growth in the low teens, between 180 and 220 new store openings, around 60%-70% of them will be corporate ones, CapEx of around MXN 6 billion.
Regarding the EBITDA ratios, pre-IFRS 16 expectations, an EBITDA growth of approximately mid-single digit, a total debt to EBITDA ratio between 2.6-2.8 times, and post-IFRS 16 expectations, EBITDA growth of roughly mid-single digit, a total debt to EBITDA ratio between 3-3.2 times. These assumptions, considering the guidance, are a 2.2 GDP average growth in all the regions, including Mexico, Argentina, the 12 countries where we participate, and an exchange rate of 20.8 pesos per dollar and 22.8 pesos per euro. Despite external challenges, we remain confident in the ability of Alsea to execute the strategy, capitalize the high-potential opportunities, and sustain strong results. I will now pass you over to the operator for the Q&A session. Thank you very much.
We will now start the Q&A session. If you have a question, please press the question button in the browser. Please make sure you are not in full-screen mode to see the button. The first question is from Mr. Alejandro Fuchs from Itaú BBA. Please go ahead.
Thank you, Operator. Hola, Armando, Federico, Gerardo. Thank you for the space for questions and congratulations on the results. Two quick ones from my side in Europe. Looking at semester sales in Starbucks, it seems that sequentially we're seeing a better performance. Wanted to see if you can walk us through maybe the monthly results on the brand. It was maybe November better than October, December better than November, and how you see that maybe to start the year. That would be the first one. And the second one, very quickly on profitability also in Europe. Although the EBITDA at a store level saw a margin contraction, when you see the EBITDA of Europe as a whole, we saw a margin expansion year-over-year. Wanted to see if you can walk us through maybe what are some of the savings initiatives and efficiency programs that you're seeing in Europe as well.
Thank you.
Hello, Alex. Thank you very much. Yeah, in France, we're continuing working towards recovering from the post-boycott traffic, and we have seen, of course, the situation improvement, as you can see in the report, with a much; of course, there's an issue comparable with the base, but the traffic is performing better. As we mentioned, the full recovery, and I will tell you that to you guys, will take a little bit more than 18-24 months. But we expected a full year to recover by the end of 2026. But I mean, we still continue implementing commercials, promotion campaigns, and there's some bundles and some digital things that we're doing. We are, as I said, expected, and we are looking and seeing a gradual recovery in these first nine weeks of the year. The declining is only a low single digit now.
So, I think by the end of the year, we will have better numbers in this region than in order. I mean, they are very small again in our complete portfolio regarding EBITDA margins. But our recovery, it's continuing and in good way for the future.
Yeah. Regarding (hello, Alex) regarding the EBITDA expansion that you're mentioning, we are working in all the lines, not only in Europe, but in the rest of the company. We're suffering pressures from minimum wage, obviously the depreciation of the FX, as you have seen in the guidance. We're working across all these initiatives. We have several plans. And as Armando said, in Europe, the same-store sales in France have started to improve sequentially from the previous quarter. And additionally, the portfolio management that we did with the incorporation of the 54 units of Burger King in Spain are helping us. So we are fully concentrated in the cash flow generation of the portfolio, obviously Europe, South America, both, private and private.
Alejandro, this is Gerardo. So if I may add some color on kind of the sequential improvement that we have seen in Europe, but I would say this is for the complete portfolio of our brands. I would say December was a pretty strong month, as we mentioned in our opening remarks. If you compare that December versus October, November was definitely higher. So it was, again, sequentially improving through the quarter. And so far, I would say in the first, let's say, couple of months that we already passed in 2025, top-line and same-store sales continue to be, I would say, robust.
Thank you very much, Armando, Federico, Gerardo.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for your question. Our next question is from Mr. Ben Theurer from Barclays. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good morning. Thank you very much for taking my question, Armando, Federico. Congrats on a solid finish, let's call it this way. Two questions as well, if I may. So number one, looking at your growth outlook for next year, could you maybe give us a little more nuanced views as it relates to the same-store sales growth you're expecting mid-single digit and obviously on a consolidated basis, but maybe just high-level what you think of Mexico versus South America versus Europe? That would be my first question. And then the second, if we could just dig a little bit into the CapEx and the new store openings. It feels like at the midpoint, it's about 30% less stores than what we had in 2024 on the opening side. CapEx is kind of like seen only less than 10% lower than what it was last year.
Just wanted to understand what's driving that higher inflation, just given that the store openings are actually down more meaningful on a year-over-year basis. Is it that Guadalajara distribution center or what's behind that? Maybe just a little bit more nuanced details here as well. Thank you.
Yeah, sure, Ben. Thank you very much, Ben. Regarding the growth that we are seeing in the top line for the next year, as you have seen in the guidance, we have a mid-single digit increase in the different countries. I would say it's pretty similar for the different regions. Obviously, we have a sequential improvement in France. It is not going to be so relevant as we wish, but I would say that for Mexico and the rest of the regions, it should be on a mid-single to high single digit depending on the region. It's pretty similar. And additionally, the 3% to 4% depending on the region of the new openings. Obviously, we have considered all the different things. And additionally, you should consider the FX depreciation that we have into the top line because of the euros that we convert to pesos. It's really different.
It's an increase of around MXN 2-MXN 2.5 from an average perspective from 2024. That would be the guidance for top line in 2025. Regarding the CapEx decreasing regarding new openings, yeah, we are not so interested in new openings, especially because, as we have said, obviously, we do not have at this point the 100% of the transactions that we had in France two years ago. So we are delaying a little bit the pipeline for this region. We want to grow, yeah, but on a profitable way. Additionally, the CapEx is not having a relevant decrease because of the CEDIS in Guadalajara, the distribution center, the new distribution center. The total CapEx for these facilities is around MXN 750 million. We spent around MXN 200 million last year, and this year will be the difference to accomplish with this gap.
Do you want to add something?
No, just we've been very rationalized and just very productive in the CapEx allocation, and we're still doing. I mean, the budget that we did last year, we only covered 90% or 89% by the end of the year. So we're going to still do the same this year, just seeing where we need to spend, how we need to spend, remodels, opening, and everything. And as Federico says, we are using more cash, especially in Benelux, where to open, also in South America. So I think that's good news because the pipeline, the store is robust, but full of very profitable stores. And then just to mention, on the same-store sales, the budget and the projections that we have is positive traffic in all regions. It's not leveraged by any chance, just in the ticket average. All the regions and all the brands, like last year, was the same.
They are positive in traffic.
Ben, regarding top line, I have to add that we are focusing on defending traffic. That's a critical part of the same-store sales. Obviously, we have ticking inflation. If this is zero, we are not interested to grow through ticket. That's artificial. But we want to increase the traffic in each one of the stores, each one of the regions, each one of the brands. I would say that's a challenge, and that's the reason we are not planning to pass on, in a full way, the inflation that we have in the raw materials.
Yeah, perfect. Thank you very much.
Gracias.
Thank you very much for your question. Our next question is from Mr. Diego Jardón from Citi. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Armando, Federico, Gerardo. Thank you for taking my questions. I would like to explore two points here. So we already discussed a little bit the same-store sales for the guidance, but maybe if we can get into a little bit more detail into the store openings. If I'm not mistaken, it was 182 to 120. So just wondering whatever new information you could give us on brands, geographies, just so we could understand the focus and opportunities on the store openings. And the second point I would like to address here is to hear a bit from you on the Domino's brand. We saw an overall pretty solid same-store sales, right? Mexico in the 5.1% and Colombia's extraordinary 10.5%. So just wondering, how's the competition going? How do you see it for the different geographies? And again, whatever opportunities you see here.
Yeah, that's it from my side. Thank you.
Yeah. Thank you, Diego. Good morning. Regarding the openings for the 2025, 80% of the openings will be based on Starbucks and Domino's Pizza. And the main regions where we are allocating these new openings, Mexico and Europe, with around 80%-85% of the pipeline. The remaining stores will be casual dining in Spain and Mexico. And barely around five to seven new stores in South America.
Yes, thanks for mentioning that Domino's Pizza. I think it is super important. We did an extraordinarily well year, I would say, and just a great quarter. Why was that? In Spain, we launched a new product innovation that is Croissantísima. We had a record week all the 13 weeks of the quarter, just making it a little bit hard to innovate in this business, but that one is just a great product that makes the difference. And that was a little bit of growth that we have in Spain. Also, I would like to say the carryout strategies that we've been focusing on the last 18 months here, competing with our competitors that had carryout promotions, are also being very successful in all the regions. Another thing, of course, the digital transformation.
We invest in our own application now, and the conversion rate on that application is in the high double digits, so that is transforming well. We are also doing some the tender, and the digital channels of Domino's are also being very successful, so I think it's not going to be the case this year. We are doing well in that brand. Of course, that one in Mexico, it's affected a little bit by the exchange rate because our cost of goods is a little bit more aligned or recalcado to cost. But I think that all overall, the business unit had a very successful year, and hopefully this year will be the same.
Fantastic. Thank you.
Thank you very much for your question. Our next question is from Mr. Antonio Hernández from Actinver. Please go ahead.
Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my question. Congrats on your results. Could you please elaborate a little bit more on the trend that you're seeing so far during the year now in Mexico? I mean, thanks for the color on Europe, but any more color that you could provide on Mexico? And also wanted to know if part of your guidance is based on a better second half versus the first half, given the different comps and also the calendar effect in the first half. Thanks.
Antonio, muchas gracias, Antonio. We saw some resiliency of the consumer in the last months of the year. As Gerardo and Armando said, it was a fantastic last quarter of the year, not only because of the strong seasonality of December, but all the brands have a positive trend, talking around the same-store sales, but more important around traffic. It was amazing with the exception of one brand. The rest of the brands in Mexico had a positive behavior, not only in Mexico, but in the rest of the region, South America and Europe too. Obviously, as said before regarding the guidance for 2025, we are building a budget, a guidance with 2% of GDP. Obviously, the private consumption, it is not going to be easy. If it is going to be positive, we hope.
but additionally, we think that we must have a mid-single digit growth in all the different geographies. I would say that the behavior in the first half and the second half is really similar, talking around the guidance. So it is not going to be really different from our perspective.
Okay. Thanks, Freddy. Have a great day.
Thank you very much for your question. Our next question is from Mr. Declan Gargan from Santander. Please go ahead. Our next question is from Ms. Renata Cabral from Citibank. Please go ahead.
Hi, everyone. Thanks so much for taking my question. It's actually a follow-up about the quarter in Mexico. Can you give us a little bit of trends, what happened, especially Starbucks, which is a really, really important brand for you in terms of pricing and traffic for the quarter? Thank you so much.
Yeah, Renata. In the last quarter, we had a positive same-store sales for the brand in Mexico, around mid-single digit, especially, as said before, and with really related with the message for 2025. We're having a positive trend regarding traffic. We are not increasing because of the ticket inflation. We think that with the current economic environment and the volatility, the worst thing that we can do in Alsea, not only in Mexico for Starbucks, but for the rest of the portfolio, is have higher prices for the customer. So we are being really positive around the comparable store base. And additionally, the openings that we are having in Mexico, and this message has been repeated more than once during the last year, we are having paybacks better than the stores that we opened 22 years ago when we set the first store in Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico.
So we are having returns on investment below two years. So we are pretty happy. We will increase the footprint and increase the penetration for Starbucks in Mexico. But additionally, I want to highlight what happened with the casual dining in Mexico and in Spain during the whole year. We have a figure from mid- to high-single-digit regarding same-store sales. More than 60% of this figure was built with traffic. And we want to highlight because a lot of time we receive several questions around Starbucks or Domino's, but the casual dining portfolios are relevant leg of the strategy of Alsea for the future, and we will continue increasing the footprint as we will do with Starbucks in Mexico and the rest of the geographies. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Federico. That's a great call. Or if you allow me, just a very quick second question regarding coffee prices here in Brazil. As we are a great exporter, we are talking a lot about that, the increasing prices. If you can give a little bit of color on what you're expecting for the year and how the contracts you have qualitative terms with Starbucks in terms of purchase of the coffee going to Mexico would help us a lot to understand the main dynamics?
Okay. This answer regarding coffee, as we have established before, obviously, we saw the trends that has the market regarding coffee. We have seen several increases of about 30%-100% depending on the day. As we acquired the coffee from a Starbucks parent company, we never had a significant increase or a significant decrease. The main part of the effects that we are putting in place into the guidance is related with the effects that we are having. From 17.5 pesos per dollar that we had as an average in 2024, we are going to 20.8, as we said in the guidance, of effects, and that's the appreciation that we are reflecting into the guidance.
I would say that even when we are aware of the increases in the coffee and we have a strategy for the pricing for the final customer, we are more worried around the effects because obviously MXN 1 is around 30 basis points on the final composition mix of the EBITDA, but for 2025 and with the futures that we are seeing at the market, it's around 100 basis points.
Just, Renata, to be clear, since this thing started, I mean. The higher of the prices and the futures of the prices of the coffee, we've been talking, of course, with our partner in Seattle regarding what other options that we have in case there's any tariffs or whatever at Alsea. And there's a lot of options on the table of Alsea. As we know, we use Mexican coffee. Most of what is roasted in the U.S. and comes back to Mexico, that is not a taxable product. So we are steady there, but we are looking at other options in Asia and, of course, Colombia that we are sourcing a great coffee there with a good partner of Starbucks.
So, we are working there, and that's something that we are on top of so we can avoid any inflation and any increase of the price. That is the strategy for this year in order to continue to build traffic in our brands.
Thank you so much for the call, Armando and Federico.
Gracias, Renata.
Thank you very much for your question. Our next question is from Mr. Álvaro García from BTG Pactual. Please go ahead.
Hi, gentlemen. I have three questions. I'll go one by one. On the guidance on margins specifically, I was wondering if you could maybe give a regional breakout. Given all of your comments thus far on the call, it seems like most of the pressure will be concentrated in Mexico given the FX dynamic, but I was wondering if you can give a bit more color on and we do have easier comps, right, in Europe and Latam. So any color on sort of the regional breakout on the margin pressure specifically embedded in your guidance would be helpful.
Yeah, sure, Álvaro. Well, I would say that the pressure is the major pressure that we are suffering for 2025 is set in Mexico. As established with Renata's questions, the increase of MXN 1 impacts the gross margin on approximately 30 basis points. So this impact could be 100 basis points at the gross margin level. This obviously is without doing nothing. So we are working on efficiencies, strategies, as Armando said, with the different suppliers, strategies to have a stockpile of the different key products like the cheese or the coffee so we can mitigate part of these impacts. In Europe, we should see a sequential improvement in the margins in the whole year, and I would say a pretty similar thing for South America. That was the first question.
Yeah, great. That was the first one. The second one is on higher D&A also for you, Freddy. We saw materially higher depreciation. I was wondering if you have a little bit more color on that.
Yeah, sure. Regarding the variations and the peaks that you are seeing in the regional components of the D&A post IFRS 16, we standardize the criteria of the different leasing contracts. The IFRS 16 accounting law is really complex. And obviously, we signed the different lease contracts for casual dining at Starbucks in each region on different ways. It is not the same in Mexico than the landlords that we have in Europe, etc. So we are standardizing these criteria. This does not imply, and I want to highlight this, Álvaro, for the rest of the investor community, this is not implying an increase in the rental expenses, but in the way we account the leases from an IFRS 16 perspective. Obviously, we manage the business and we have established several occasions on an IFRS 16 situation because that's the way we control the cash flow.
We sign with a mandatory term of five years, not more. It is really easy to go out without paying any kind of penalty when we want to exit from some of the sites that we are exploring right now.
Nice. So most of the impact was a shift in mix, was more IFRS 16, let's say.
Yeah, it's totally an accounting rule. And we commented this with the auditor, obviously, because it was going to make a lot of noise, but the rental expense is the same when you see from a cash flow perspective. The conditions, the terms, we have 60% of the rental or the leases with a fixed component and the remaining 40%, especially shopping malls, airports, etc., on a variable basis.
Yeah. And then my last question, and thanks so much for the space for questions. My last question is for Armando on Cristian, on Cristian Gurría, on the new appointment of the CEO. Your mandate, obviously, was a post-pandemic mandate and sort of right-sized the ship and did a great job. And it was great to be a part of this time. But what do you think Cristian's mandate might look like? Is it going to be the same, or do you expect a shift in his mandate or a change in mandate with him as CEO?
Thank you for the question. I think exactly we are in the immersion program, as I told you guys and I said to you guys in January when I had the privilege to see you. It's going to be an immersion program of four or five months. I mean, he's been in the company for the past 20-something years. So he's specialized. He knows all the brands. He's been in two regions out of the three. So he knows. I think our strategy that I've been giving to the market regarding the pillars strategy that we are doing now, how we are focusing in pillars, in unit economics, I mean, that won't change. I mean, the board is the one with him to set the strategy for the future. We just had the board yesterday and last week we got together, and the strategy regarding our pillars are the same.
The talent of attraction in this company, retention talent, just be the best employer of the business will be the same. Operational excellence. Since I arrived, this company is about operating well restaurants, great service, great product, great image, and that will create people to come back. Of course, Álvaro, these digital transformations, since I arrived, I was very focused on changing all the POS of the company, the systems, the technology. Now we are doing some AI, so there's a lot of things right now in the digital transformation in Burger King with the kiosks that has to be continued to it, and then I will say get some return on investment on that one. I mean, the portfolio growth, you've been seeing that our portfolio growth is just being very focused on the brands that are giving us the best results. Strong balance sheet, I mean, the same.
We've been focused on the CapEx. We're trying to pay debt last year, giving some dividends. And then so I think the balance sheet always, of course, innovating, being a great partner in sustainability with our community. So I think, yes, I mean, and the synergy and critical mass of this company to create more value will still be the same. So I think that the plan for Cristian, myself, the board is very clear, and we're going to attach to that plan.
Great. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much for your question. Our next question is from Mr. Froylan Méndez from J.P. Morgan. Please go ahead.
Hello. Thank you for taking my question. I was wondering, after seeing the divestment of Burger King, and when you think about and you have said about focusing on the most profitable brands, is there anything left that can be sold in your portfolio? That's a quick question, and second, I would like to understand how is the standalone Starbucks strategy going in Mexico? You have been mentioning that going forward, a lot more of the new stores will be more standalone, probably in highways, a little bit different from the current footprint that we know here in Mexico. Just want to understand where we're at in that Starbucks strategy.
Thank you, Froy. Regarding the first question with the disincorporation of Burger King in Spain, the first reason to disincorporate Burger King is because we were not able to grow with this brand in Spain because there are some other players that hold the MFA rights, and they were not permitting Alsea to have more units because it was really a cash cow into that territory, and that was the first reason to disincorporate Burger King. Additionally, we are on a daily basis looking for new opportunities to unlock value for the different investors. So yeah, the answer is yes. We are analyzing maybe the portfolio management to disincorporate some other business units. At this point, they are not relevant into the whole pie composition of Alsea, talking around revenues and EBITDA.
The message that we want to transmit, especially because we hear you, the investor community, is that the business is too complex. We want to simplify not only for you, but for the management. We want to give the right voice to the major concepts like Starbucks, Domino's Pizza, and the cash cow underlying strategy in Mexico and in Spain. The second question.
Regarding the openings out of the 180-220 that we give in the guidance, of course, that's probably the half, probably 100 stores that will be opened by our Starbucks pillar. Of those ones, 90% are corporate stores. The other one are sub-franchisees and licensees that are going to be in Europe, and out of the 90 stores more or less that we're going to open, yes, in Mexico, especially where we have a little bit target of 50-70 stores, there is where we have some drive-through standalones that are going to be open. That takes a little more time.
But all those stores, as Federico says, the good news here is the stores that we open now and that we opened in the last 24 months and the one that we have in the budget for next year, all of them, the value, the creation, the return of investment is still higher than the first store that we opened. And on the unit economics, the way we are enforcing the rent negotiation with the landlords, probably sometimes they pay for the shell. And then the investment that we are putting with the green stores that we are executing and everything is giving us a good return. Drive-throughs are working well, but the rest of the stores also are working well.
So I think the portfolio for this year regarding not only Starbucks, I would say the casual dining division and all the Domino's stores are already in place. We already have practically the pipeline set and ready, some in construction. I think there's going to be good quality pipeline and good success in our store openings.
Very clear. Thank you so much for your answers.
Gracias.
Thank you very much for your question. Our next question is from Ms. Julia Rizzo from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead. Julia.
Julia. We can see you, Julia.
Now we can see you.
But not hear you.
Julia.
Okay. Thank you. I'm sorry.
We got it.
I think I lost the connection. Thank you for getting my question. It's really quick. Can you give us a little bit more color on, I think, the non-store expenses, which I think was quite surprising that we saw some reductions compared to previous year, a very good level, if that is recurring on expectations for 2025? And I will do a follow-up later. Thank you.
Sure. Thank you, Julia. Regarding, I saw the paper regarding non-store expenses question. Obviously, when you see the operating income and the adjusted EBITDA, which is the EBITDA for all the store-level EBITDA that we have, you still are losing two components, the pre-opening expenses that are totally related with the new openings that we have. And in the last year, obviously, we have a completely different pipeline than in 2023. Maybe that's a reason that you are seeing a saving, an artificial saving. But obviously, we still have some different efficiencies in the G&A part. And obviously, as you remember, we're having to the other current liabilities, some of the provisions to pay the long-term incentive for the management. There's part of the cancellation that we are performing like all the years that we are doing because we are not achieving the target set by the major CEO.
That's the reason. I would say that the major deviation is related with the pre-opening expenses and the different pipeline that we had in the last quarter from 2023.
Can you give me the roof part? What was the pre-opening expenses on the last quarter?
Yeah. For example, training expenses, all the rental expenses that you have previously to open on a formal way the store, sorry, some part of the construction of the building, all the electricity expenses to do a fine-tuning of the stores. Those are the pre-opening expenses, and you have this into the different geographies. There's a gap. It is not only related with SG&A between the EBITDA for all and the operating income. Okay?
Okay. Okay. And the follow-up on Mexico, the margins. The margins were really impressive. The resilience, especially given the context of wages and also the commodity price going up. I would like to understand what is your view going forward if that 24 or high 23 rate is sustainable or if perhaps something has to do also with the mix. A little bit of the.
Thanks for that because I think it was an impressive number. We saw it since the beginning of the last weeks of November, and we just prepared the whole organization in staffing and operations in order to achieve that. Yes, the casual business division was an impressive number, but also continue with Domino's. Yes, Starbucks was not the exception. Yes, we're going to observe some normalization in our growth rates.
I think I lost you.
You lost me?
Yeah. Sorry. Can you repeat?
No, no, yeah, yeah. I can repeat. Of course, we had a great since November, since the end of November, we saw the trends. We were very prepared. Of course, we did a lot of things not only to accompany the growth. We doubled down in some strategies, commercial strategies in order to fulfill better the restaurants. So yes, Casual Dining was strong. Domino's Pizza was very strong. And Starbucks was not the exception. It was very strong. We did grow well in traffic in the last four, six weeks of the year. Yes, we will observe some normalization in our growth rates. We are still at a little bit of a decompression in the market, but I think we've experienced this.
We do have tools of digital in Starbucks Rewards, and we have other things that are coming, trying to get all the opportunities that we can in order to fulfill the account for better traffic in all stores and in all the regions. And also we're not only seeing Mexico. I think I'm talking here globally. We just had a good conversation with all my 200 team members just one hour ago and seeing we have to capitalize every opportunity. And in this business, all the time there's opportunity in all the stores that you go of attending one more client or selling a little bit more to one. So I think I feel confident of the guide. I feel confident that we're going to have a tough year, but we always been this has always been challenged, and I think we will make it happen.
And Julia, in the long-term plan, obviously, 2025, there's an effect. It is not only in Alsea but in the rest of the industry. We have to reframe what we want to do. And as I said before, and we have established, we want to have more traffic in each one of the stores. Armando had outlined that. And obviously, we will return the margins that we had in the last quarter of 2024. Of course, they are sustainable in the long term. And this kind of volatility, somebody could tell me what is going to be the exchange rate for the rest of the year. That would be great, but nobody knows. But of course, we have a strategy, and we cannot be only worried because of the short term.
Yeah. But for the 24th, the really good margins of the fourth quarter, is something that you can give us a little bit more color on how you?
Yeah, sure.
Yeah, to offset the pressures on wages or the commodities. Maybe you get related with the mix, with I don't know how schedule timing margins compared to the rest of the portfolio. Give something to understand.
Of course. But these are the basics of the business. We have discussed regarding minimum wage increases. We have offset this kind of impacts during the last six years because it did not occur only in 2024. We have had a 20% increase during the last six years in this country. What are the tools to offset these increases? The increase in productivity. What does productivity mean? Transactions per labor hour. We measure all these kinds of initiatives, the right mix of promotions. Maybe we have sometimes 40 promos on delivery. Then we have 20 promotions, the implementation of bundles, obviously trying to understand our customer. The EBITDA margins that we have in the casual dining business are pretty similar to those we have in Starbucks or Domino's business. In fact, in some of the stores are better because a lot of these brands are corporate ones.
We are not paying royalties to the franchise stores. As I said, we have two major components: the cost of food, the taxes, and what is happening in 2025 because I have just explained, and the productivity. That sits under the control of Alsea. For example, in France, we know how to open a store with two baristas at 8:00 A.M. Here, we have a different composition, different transactions. We have six. We have a huge gap between what is happening in Mexico or in South America to what is happening in Europe and some other geographies where the productivity has to be controlled in a different manner. I think we have the tools, and that's the reason that we achieved those margins in the last quarter.
There is nothing extraordinary or any provision cancellation into the figures that we had in the last quarter to be really concrete with your question, and we had a terrific cash flow generation, but we can do a follow-up.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Julia.
All right.
Thank you very much for your question. If you would like to participate in the Q&A session, please make sure your camera and microphone are both activated. Our next question is from Mr. Enrique Sojo from Fundamental. Please go ahead.
Hello, gentlemen. Thanks for taking my question. I've just got one quick question. Given the current implied valuation, how has your perspective or opinion changed regarding share repurchases and intensifying what they saw were currently being done? Thank you.
What was this?
Yeah, the share buyback, right, Enrique?
Exactly. Yeah.
Okay. Sorry. Yeah, no, I think we've been somewhat active, as you have seen in the past, I would say, couple of months. Now, with the price where it is, the valuation, we follow, I would say, the EV to EBITDA multiples very closely. So I would say at these levels, we will continue to be active, Enrique. As you know, the plan for the company is to cancel these shares in the coming, let's say, months in the next shareholders' meeting. So that is also something positive to the investment thesis for Alsea that we're expecting, I would say, dividends as in the past, plus some of these cancellations of shares. So I would say the return to shareholders would be a little bit higher.
You should expect us to continue to be active on the share buyback, Enrique, again, as we continue to see value, let's say, trapped in the stock price.
Great. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for your question. That was the last question. I will now hand over to Mr. Armando Torrado for final comments.
Thank you very much for joining our quarterly video conference. Like always, if you have any further questions, please contact our Investor Relations team. Thanks. Have a great day. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.